How Trump Betrayed the Pro-Life Movement

Hello all,

This week in First Things, I have an essay on why the first Trump administration was pro-life, and the second is pro-choice. I interviewed former Vice President Mike Pence and many others for this essay, because a historical corrective is in order: For several years, pro-lifers have been thanking the wrong man for the accomplishments of the first Trump administration. An excerpt:

For four years, pro-lifers experienced unprecedented levels of access to the White House. The administration acted on their priorities; in a presidential first, Trump even spoke in person at the 2020 March for Life. Pro-life leaders called Trump the “most pro-life president in American history,” a title he embraced with gusto.

That title has come back to haunt the movement. In 2024, Trump ordered the removal of a pivotal line from the GOP platform that had been there since 1984, effectively transitioning the GOP into a pro-choice party: “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” He condemned pro-life protections in states like Florida as “too harsh” and “a terrible mistake,” and he made clear that he does not share the pro-life movement’s conviction that life begins at conception and that government has a responsibility to protect the unborn. (Pro-lifers narrowly defeated the 2024 Florida abortion referendum—which would have enshrined a right to abortion up to twenty-four weeks and struck down the state’s six-week ban—no thanks to Trump.)

Read the whole thing: “How Trump Betrayed the Pro-Life Movement.”

Last week, I attended the America250 celebrations in Washington, D.C. with several pro-life groups. My column in The European Conservative:

As we watched the fireworks, I thought of a story Woody Williams told me. Woody was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient before he died in 2022. He knew Don Graves; both were flamethrower operators during the Battle of Iwo Jima, and both saw the flag raised over the island. Over the years, they met at many reunions. Both had shared their stories many times. Graves is one of the last who remains.

When Woody met President Harry Truman, he was petrified. Then, Woody told me, Truman leaned in as he pinned the medal to the young soldier’s uniform. “I would rather have this medal than be president,” he said. That exchange—between the president of the most powerful nation on earth and a young farm boy who had shown “uncommon valor”—encapsulates everything that is great about America.

Read the whole thing here: “America at 250: Heat, Hype, and Heroes.”

At Canadian Physicians for Life, I have a profile about Stanisława Leszczyńska, the extraordinary “midwife of Auschwitz,” who faced off with Dr. Joseph Mengele, “the Angel of Death”:

MP Jamil Jivani has broken one of the rules of Canadian politics: He told the truth about Pride, and criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney for participating in “Liberal degeneracy.” Watch:

As always, follow the podcast wherever you get your content: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Rumble, or YouTube. You can get a copy of my book How We Got Here: A Guide to Our Anti-Christian Culture at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or at The Bridgehead, where you can also find other columns (and books!) if you’re interested.